For the first time ever, a Korean nuclear reactor will be installed overseas in the United Arab Emirates.
It's part of a 19-billion-U.S. dollar contract Korea won to build four nuclear plants in the Gulf nation by the year 2020.
To mark the occasion, President Park Geun-hye and the UAE's deputy prime minister Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan attended a ceremony at the Barakah nuclear plant site Tuesday, some 3-hundred kilometers west of the capital Abu Dhabi.
The presidential office in Seoul says the 533-ton reactor, which recently passed the UAE nuclear regulator's safety tests, symbolizes the global recognition of Korea's nuclear reactor technology and safety.
Seoul and Abu Dhabi also signed three memorandums of understanding, through which Korea hopes to create job opportunities for young Koreans in the Arab nation.
The MOUs include the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation hiring some 10 Korean engineering graduates each year, and the two countries jointly fostering their service industries in the nuclear sector.
Sitting down with Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan after the ceremony, President Park discussed two-way cooperation in the areas of energy, construction, medicine and finance.
[SOUNDBITE]
"The Barakah Nuclear plant is more than just a construction deal it's a symbol of the bond that will tie our two countries over the next 100 years."
, 100 .

Despite the Sewol-ho ferry disaster, officials say President Park made the short two-day trip in consideration of future economic cooperation between the two nations.
Before heading home, she met with members of Korea's Ark military unit, which has been deployed to the UAE since 2011 as part of Seoul-Abu Dhabi military cooperation.
Choi You-sun, Arirang News.